In 1988, after the success of "The Dark Knight Returns" grafic novel, Frank Miller was contacted by producer Jon Davison about writing a sequel to RoboCop. Miller enthusiastically accepted the offer, eager to make an impression in Hollywood the way he had in comics the past decade. Miller's screenplay was regarded as perfect follow-up to the original; filled with dark humour, socio-political commentary, and graphic violence.

However, the realities of the Hollywood studio system soon became apparent to Miller. Although he enjoyed being handsomely paid for his contributions, he lamented the fact that he was bombarded by notes from studio execs telling him that his script was "unfilmable". His script was drastically re-written into what became RoboCop 2.
Even when his tenure as screenwriter was officially over, Miller showed up on set everyday, eager to learn all about the movie-making process from start-to-finish. He was even given a cameo as "Frank the chemist". The final product was lamented by critics, audiences, and even the actors involved. His original screenplay for RoboCop 2 took on an almost "urban legend" status as fans wondered about "what could have been."

<

Almost a decade later, the comic rights to RoboCop were acquired by Avatar Press. They were interested in producing a comic adaptation of Miller's "lost" screenplay and soon got in contact with Miller, who was enthusiastic to the idea of his story finally being told uncensored.
Although Miller chose to oversee the project himself, scheduling prohibited him from personally writing the comic adaptation or illustrating. That job was then turned over to comic writer Steven Grant, a long-time acquaintance of Miller's who had written the comic adaptation of RoboCop 3 for Dark Horse Comics. Juan Jose Ryp, best known for illustrating the Avatar comic Another Suburban Romance (written by Alan Moore), became the title's illustrator while Miller drew covers.